Heartbreak: Myers slowed by hamstring at world championships

The father of U.S. sprinter Marshevet Myers said Monday that his daughter has been slowed by a hamstring problem that could knock her out of the 4×100 relay at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, Korea.

San Antonio’s Ricky Hooker made the comment after Myers, a former state champion at Southwest High School, finished a disappointing eighth in the 100 meters on Monday night in Korea.

“I talked to her, and she’s fine,” Hooker said in a telephone interview. “I mean, she’s just a little confused that she keeps getting to the place and keeps getting hurt.”

Myers had run under 10.9 seconds three times earlier in the summer, including 10.83 when she finished second at the U.S. championships in June.

But in the biggest meet of the year she couldn’t break 11 seconds in three rounds over the past two days at the world championships.

With the best sprinters in the world running into a 1.4-meters per second headwind Monday night, Carmelita Jeter of the United States won in 10.9 seconds. Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica was second in 10.97 and Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad was third in 10.98.

Myers was eighth in 11.33.

Hooker said he believes his daughter originally tweaked the hamstring in July in a meet at Monaco. He said she received treatment in Germany, returned to her home in Grand Prairie and rested.

But when she arrived in Korea, the hamstring started acting up again.

“She told me as soon as she got past the finish line in the first round (on Sunday) she was feeling a twinge on the side of her knee,” Hooker said. “She got it checked out and was told that it was a little tendinitis. Then she felt it again in the semifinals (on Monday afternoon).”

Hooker said he doesn’t think his daughter will run in the 4×100 relay on Sunday.